Chris Klebl

Christopher Klebl (born 5 January 1972) is an American-Canadian cross-country skier who represented the United States at the 2006 and 2010 Winter Paralympics before winning a gold medal for Canada at the 2014 Winter Paralympics.

Personal life

Klebl was born in Düsseldorf, Germany as an American citizen. He grew up in Austria and moved to the United States in 1987. In 1995 he suffered back injury during a snowboarding accident that left him paralysed below the waist. He worked as a massage therapist in Kauai, Hawaii and then in the software industry in California before moving back to Colorado and taking up sit-skiing. In the individual events he finished 23rd in the 5 km, 18th in the 10 km, and 11th in the 15 km.

Between 2007 and 2008 he won 11 medals at IPC World Cup events. At the 2009 World championships in Vuokatti, Finland he finished 4th in the 15 km, 6th in the 10 km and 7th in the sprint. In the 10 km he finished 16th and in the 15 km he finished 8th. In the 10 km event Klebl won his first Paralympic medal, taking gold in a time of 30 minutes 52 seconds. In doing so he prevented Russia's Roman Petushkov from winning a record equalling seventh gold medal at a single Paralympics.